Item Detail
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25932
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3
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2
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English
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LDS Understandings of Religious Freedom : Responding to the Shifting Cultural Pendulum
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Journal of Mormon History
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Summer 2012
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38
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3
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Salt Lake City, UT
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Mormon History Association
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128-147
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In recent years, particularly following the LDS Church s involvement in the debate regarding California's Proposition 8, increased criticism and public scrutiny have focused on Mormonism's stand on freedom. Many critical responses, whether coming from outsiders or insiders, and whether based on prejudice or on more careful engagement with LDS beliefs, tend to highlight a common thread. A recurrent claim is that the Church's nineteenth century approach to freedom is inconsistent with its twenty-first century stand.1 Some see the Church as having changed from a powerless persecuted entity into a powerful force of persecution. Even those who offer more nuanced conclusions seem to have difficulty recognizing continuity or a solid philosophical and theological foundation in Mormonism's approach. The purpose of this analysis is to highlight that philosophical and theological foundation and to explore the shifting cultural backgrounds that have framed and motivated statements by LDS leaders on this topic. [From the article]